Former DSS worker’s rape charge cleared

A Mecklenburg County judge has expunged rape charges against a former unit supervisor with the Lincoln County Department of Social Services.

Sherman Pride, 44, of Cornelius, received court documents last spring that the second-degree rape charge a co-worker filed against him in 2012 had been dismissed.

Pride worked with children through his DSS position but quit the job three days before Charlotte police arrested him, the Times-News previously reported.

The specific charge included “second-degree rape by force against the will of the victim,” according to court records.

The woman who filed the charge in November 2012 worked under Pride’s supervision at DSS and told police the two went out for drinks one night before ending up in a room together, engaging in sexual activities, officers said.

She further claimed, according to police, that he raped her after she refused to allow him to become more physical with her.

Pride was not forced to resign, DSS and county officials said in the days initially following his arrest.

Earlier this month, he provided the Times-News with court documents on the case dismissal and expunction, which a judge officially granted in October, the forms revealed.

In order for the request to be approved, the court first checked to ensure Pride had never before committed a felony offense or received a past expunction.

A person is only granted one expunction in a lifetime.

North Carolina General Statute 15A-146 outlines the expunction process for individuals who have had a case dismissed or who have been deemed not guilty or “not responsible.”

According to the statute, a person may file “to the court of the county where the charge was brought…to expunge from all official records any entries relating to his apprehension or trial.”